Ataturk's initial triumph setting up a new state in far from propitious circumstances clearly has much less to do with disputes over secularism and pluralism than it does with his military, political and diplomatic skill.
Herod's politicalskill in transferring his loyalty from the dead Mark Antony to his archrival, and later securing Rome's defense for embattled diaspora Jews, calls into question his reputed insanity.
Mr Kiriyenko still needs to prove he has the political guts and skill to argue his fiscal changes past the Duma's recalcitrants before its session ends next week.
"Aaron had an unbeatable combination of political insight, technical skill, and intelligence about people and issues, " wrote his friend Cory Doctorow, co-editor of tech blog Boing Boing.
Even though he learned to play the political game with some skill, he repeatedly ran afoul of those more powerful than he by insisting on his primacy as a wartime leader they also wanted to spin narratives placing themselves at the center of Soviet triumphs.